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This was an excellent video, I will certainly be checking out your other content

I'm looking forward to running this one

I remember one of my wizard players had a levitate spell but whenever he levitated hundreds of rats come falling out of his robe every time so instead and simply levitating he’s actually being propped up on a column of rats This spell created tons of opportunities for hilarious Situations

This is a very cool approach to character creation!

🥳🫂👍🏿 Many thanks 🙏🏿

I've found purely selfless gamemasters tend not to have very persistent games. It takes a lot of energy to build things just for your players, to show up just to entertain your players, and if you get nothing out of it, then that can only go for so long. On the other hand, if the GM treats their own enjoyment as valuable, they're more likely to look forward to their games and they'll be more motivated to keep up the effort it takes to run them. For me it's not about which way is right, but rather which way works. GMs that are just selfish enough to enjoy themselves, but not so selfish that they drive off their players are going be the best overall experience for everyone, and last longer than GMs that are purely selfish or purely selfless.

I have no idea why, but 'eldritch horror' goes with queer narratives/fiction/storytelling like peanut butter goes with jam. Who knew queer people were so adept at fighting cosmic evil? If you'd like this sort of thing in book form, I *highly* recommend Ruthann Emrys' Winter Tide and Deep Roots novels. They essentially flip Lovecraft's 'The Shadow Over Innsmouth' on it's ear: the protagonist is a survivor of what essentially was an ethnic cleaning of the town by the government and her efforts to reclaim her heritage while creating a very queer found family at the same time. The cosmic horror is still there, but racist and homo/transphobic terrestrial forces are just as terrifying. It's great, and fantastic for provoking interesting/new ideas for tapping into cosmic horror on the tabletop. Be good source material for a DM running this system.

Absolutely fantastic video. Really love the research and presentation covered here on queer history. Have you covered Harlem Unbound already on the channel?

Looks neat, sounds great! But I guess I better avoid it for now, since I have a similar idea and would like not to accidently steal something from there.

I am not sure why I watch this video, since I do not run sandboxes. But I can say that a speed stat is nonsense for sailing ships, since that would depend on wind ad waves, how wenn the sails can capture the wind and how little or how much of the ship is in the water, with light waves it is better to have a shallow ship and in heavy waves you want a deep ship to break through the waves. And if I as a person with no particular interest in seafaring stuff can know that, then I wonder how much else there might be wrong about this.

such cool video made me go and order the book i hope i have alot of fun w this system

This is so helpful!!

Nice! Another great video! I needed This Without Knowing (heh, I'm sorry). I've come across the Crawford series but I didn't know they were such a good resource for worldbuilding.

Oh yeah, funny it only took a minute or so and I'm shacking my head mutter "yep"... I also think that's part of why I burnt out on fantasy for a 25+ year stretch. Casting a spell in DCC is like hitting your breaks on a icy rood in winter, hopefully most times it goes the way you want but every once in a while it doesn't. That's the same for all the goodies/baddies everyone gets in the mechanics. Those critical successes are nearly the same as a critter/NPC can do to a PC so it does balance out and makes good "war stories".

Just found this channel. I'm a huge fan of KC's games. Loved the breakdown of SWN. Subscribed!

Well said

Yeah, the world building tools in Crawfords games are excellent

Thanks for the video 🙂I've heard a lot of good stuff about the "Without Number" games, what I'm wondering is how easy it is to play them solo?

Great video, dude! I ran a Stars Without Number campaign a couple years ago and it was so much fun. Had some crazy adventures. I think my only real complaint with the book is I found the layout during play really confusing to find stuff. I badly want a re-revised edition with a better layout. Also I think your editing is great for this content, I am taking many notes. Edit: Just got to the conclusion section and see you agree with me! :D

This is the best sci-fi rpg bar none. Its an open sandbox system where you don't have to rely on an IP to carry you.

Stars Without Number and Worlds Without Number are some of my favorite and most used prep tools and just great in general. The faction system took a bit to figure out, but it works great in my Mothership game

One thing I love about Kevin Crawford’s games is that they have a free version of each game. And that free version is a complete game. Very consumer friendly.

Thanks for the video! I backed a local translation on kickstarter and can't wait to run this :D It seems so simple and fun. Will be my first steps in to the OSR scene as well after running D&D 5th edition.

Nice video, Blerdy! I've heard about Momo but have yet to have the privilege of attending but was happy to see you enjoyed yourself overall while there. Hopefully in the future I can join ya (even if only in spirit).

Very informative! Anime and Gaming conventions are certainly a showcase of what's out there, and sacrifices (/plans) need to be made for what gets the attention of the attendee and what doesn't. Those AFK spaces look like where I'd be when/if not at an RPG table. Sensory overload, otherwise! lol

How is this related to DnD? I'm trying to find the DnD menu.

It should be noted that the difference between how d100 skill based games run their dice math compared to how d20 games like D&D and others drastically changes the difficulty curve of the game. In Call of Cthulhu and BRP, the main die roll is a d100 where you have to roll under the number of skill points you put into the skill in question. In D&D, you roll a d20 or two and add or subtract the very small number on your character sheet, hoping to a number usually above 15 but sometimes above 25. These two dice math routes make two very different play experiences. The numbers are stacked in your favor in D&D by default. So the epic heroic fantasy genre comes easy. In Call of Cthulhu and BRP, depending on how many points you get at character creation and how many skills are on the list for the campaign/setting, you may be able to make a character that has almost assured success in one or two specific areas, and no chance of success in any other field. Or you may over generalize to the point where your character can't succeed at any task. Also, a task or series of tasks that may be accomplished in one turn with one skill check in D&D may take multiple turns and require five or more different skill checks. None of this is to say Call of Cthulhu is a bad game. Just that if your only experience with ttrpgs is D&D 5e, you'll get a significant "culture shock" jumping straight over to BRP. It's similar to going from 5e to classic gray book "original" D&D.

@07:16 You really don't need miniatures, to be honest. Just use your imagination. If you have them, then carry on. However, I haven't used them in a long time. Great video, though. 🙂

bro your audio is so low

The self seeks to create a sphere of influence that nurtures the self. That's why we try to find "compatible people" with whom to play with. From that ideal situation, the self will go to lengths to maintain and improve that, which may appear self-less, but is still to nurture the self. So "selflessness" may spring from selfishness (if it exists at all, since desperation can cause one to make a lot of sacrifices but still in service to the self's wants and needs - many times never seeing a return on that investment). "I want/need my players to have a great time at the table I'm in charge of." "I'll spend 1-3 hours per 1 hour of actual play to prepare the game for my players, so they have a great time." "I don't wanna look bad or like a careless noob, so I make sure to prep the game for my players." "I've got a great plot/story that I believe my players will enjoy." "I put my heart and soul into this campaign prep, and 3 out of 5 players cancelled for session 1!" It is similar to the arguments about altruism, whether it actually exists in actual practice, or not. We all want rewards from our efforts. We all are fine with collaborating if everyone is pitching in sufficiently. A core human purpose in civilization is to serve one another, for mutual benefits and a net gain for that civilization. Lift people up, and we will all be lifted. We are certainly more accommodating of those who lift us, than those who push us down. - As for thankless job, well my groups have been rather thankful - we thank the host, we thank the gm, we even thank each other. It may play back to the selfishness, though, we selfs don't want to be ungrateful because we don't want to get dropped from the game or otherwise fall out of favor of the group. Attendance and participation, positive play and engagement, these too are indicators of appreciation. Lift each other up, even the GM. For sure members of a play group should not be seeking therapy from the other participants via gameplay. That does highlight the selfishness of individuals. I like socializing and playing the game - therapeutic? perhaps. - but I'm not seeking therapy for social justification from my group, I just want to play the game with decent people that I can respect and who will respect me (which is selfish on my part). As for that "sensitive" part. Well, almost everything has a spectrum to it, a range of degrees and/or magnitudes. It is something addressed prior to session 0, the "sensitives", the "not-so-sensitives", and everyone in-between are given fair warning of the tone and acceptable content. The whole group should be respecting and curating the common ground that is the play space, and in turn this fosters respect between the participants. - A more durable GM'ing method can certainly be in a more reactive role instead of being the main proactive person at the table. Let the party have more creative control over the narrative - the story *is* supposed to be about how *they* are navigating the events and situations that they are encountering within the gameworld, isn't it? Facilitate the game, adjudicate the rules as a referee, place logical obstacles in front of the proactive PCs. I harp on it often: the Fate game system's expectation of Characters is summed up in this slogan: "the characters are proactive, capable people leading dramatic lives.". The main source of conflict in a story is usually some NPC that needs to be thwarted or aided. Using NPC-AI like OGAS (see youtuber @HowtobeaGreatGM's vid on that - Occupation, Goals, Attitudes, Stakes) which can be expanded with Reality (my input) and Machinations (another commenter's input), can really make running NPCs easier and more meaningful. - Great, thought-provoking analysis and study, Blerdy! A lot of tangents, but otherwise tied back into the main premise rather well. <3

Another good video 🫡

What I don't get is why people try to shoe horn anime into a genre or even a particular style. It's not. There are super over the top anime and there are super realistic anime to the point they could of just been live action. Yeah, just like in anywhere else there are some troupes that pop in different types of shows but those tropes are just as likely to show up in their live action shows as well. So there's no real way of doing an "anime rpg" unless you're trying to emulate the stereotypes some people have of anime based on the limit selection that got shown on TV here. In that case any system can emulate that style sine it's more of how the story is told and how things are described.

This game looks amazing! I will definitely be checking it out, maybe using some inspiration for my own storytelling.

Anime and TTRPGs are actual roach feces, what did you think was Finna happen when you mesh them together?

Songbirds is such a striking game in a particularly interesting manner, one that gets the imagination running and has me inspired to possibly run it for a Rotating OSR/NSR group, alongside one of snow's other games my body is a cage (which I think beautifully pushes the limits of NSR design in a different but equally fascinating manner).

hmmm, i am a osr nerd. Gonna give it a go

Thanks for bringing this system onto my radar. I'm looking forward to diving into this system and it's unique approach to storytelling in TTRPG.

Hey just figured I’d drop Snow’s channel handle in here - they have some great vids @snowttrpg

What are your thoughts on Songbirds 3E? Are you thinking of playing this rpg? Let me know! And yes I do love the imagery and themes to this game a lot!

Great overview!